He was always her protective older stepbrother, the only person she told anything. She was always his adorable little stepsister, the only person he genuinely cared about. The sudden attraction, after all those years, is unexpected.

Clary sighed, and ran her fingers through her hair. "Even though I just practically attacked you? After all that crap about you kissing me?"

Jace shrugged. "I'm not the one who throws away opportunities like this. Especially when it involves you." He gave her a serious look, smile gone. "You know that. It's always been that way."

She didn't know what to say, so she just nodded.

"Go to sleep, Clary." Jace wrapped an arm around her waist. "Or I swear, I'm going to kiss you until you pass out."

Clary grinned at him; She loved it when he was playful like this. "Hmm..."

He laughed. "Sleep, crazy girl." He pulled her down on his chest, and ran his hand through her curls.

She curled into his chest, and allowed herself to relax and fall asleep.

Magnus

He didn't know how Maia had gotten his number.

Either way, it wasn't the greatest of times for her to call.

His father was pissed; He was always pissed, ever since Magnus's mother had killed herself, three years ago.

"Turn that damn phone off, you shit!" He snapped from his armchair in the living room, empty liquor bottles surrounding him. "I already told ya, I'm not paying for your little gay gossiping."

Magnus winced. Collin Bane had blamed his son for his wife's suicide, saying it was his fault. If he'd been straight, she wouldn't have been so humiliated, depressed.

And even though he didn't care what the bastard said, it still hurt. Every time.

J is ok.

He licked his lips gingerly, relishing the pain when he wettened his busted lower lip, and sighed when he wiped the dried, crusted blood from the fresh scar above his left brow. He'd gotten home late, because he'd insisted that Alexander, who lived far away from where he did, got dropped off first.

Collin, in a nutshell, was pissed. Flipped out, screaming that Magnus was supposed to be there to make dinner. Why couldn't he do anything right? He'd grabbed his son by his neck, slamming his face into the glass coffee table.

Talk about ouch.

Magnus groaned, recognizing some voices from Gilligan's Island, and the smell of his dad's can of Budlight just being opened, bith coming from the living room. Gilligan had been his mother's favorite show. It was one of those nights.

He sighed, and threw on a light jacket, a black velvet one he'd made, with fake jewels sewn into the collars, sleeves, and trim.

"I'm going out," he called back.

Collin let out a grunt. It sounded like "Get the hell outta here".

Magnus frowned, and walked out of the ghetto house, shoving his hands into the pockets of his skinny jeans, walking randomly down the sidewalk, turning left, right, or just cutting through people's yards.

It was dark. It was a wonder he didn't trip and fall into a ditch, for all he could see.

He ended up at a large house, before he got an unfamiliar gut-feeling, making him come to a halt.

Magnus stood there, staring up at the house.

"Magnus?" His eyes snapped over to the tall figure of a boy, standing in the doorway, wearing a too-big T-shirt and plaid pj pants. He looked adorable, though. "What are you doing here?"

Magnus slumped his shoulders. "I don't know, love."

Alexander's blue eyes softened, no longer hostile. "Come in, then."

Magnus froze, careful to keep his fringe over the cut as he stared up at the other boy in disbelief.

He never, never brought boys to his room. Especially boys with tight pants that made their butts look just amaz-

Flushing at his thoughts, Alec found himself grinning at the half-Asian boy who was jumping on his bed, humming as he murmured comments at how soft the mattress was, and how horribly the duvet clashed with the wall color.

"Honestly, love," Magnus sighed, wrinkling a nose distastefully as he plucked at the bedspread. "Green and yellow simply do not go together, unless you're going for the leprechaun look."

Alec sank into a beanbag, staring at him. "What's wrong with leprechauns?" He countered.

Magnus turned and looked at him, looking a little too comfortable as he spread out on Alec's bed. "Leprechauns aren't sexy, darling," he informed him. "And while your wardrobe screams 'stylist malfunction', you most definitely are sexy."

Alec felt the tips of his ears turn pink; No one, much less a boy, had ever called him sexy. Or gorgeous. Or love. Or darling. They'd never bothered to. Magnus did, though.

Ignoring the thrill that shot through him at the thought, Alec glanced up at Magnus. "So why were you walking around my neigborhood at..." he glanced down at his watch. "Two in the morning?"

Magnus gave him the most somber face Alec had ever seen him have. His expression was cool. Calculating.

Then, he gave a humorless grin, and lifted his heavy fringe from his forehead, revealing a long, painful-looking scar.

"Jesus, Magnus." Alec's mouth fell open.

"I was gettin' away from my old man." Magnus sighed. "You don't mind if I crash here, do you gorgeous?"

Alec shook his head. No, he didn't mind at all.

And that thought terrified him.

"Slumber party!" Magnus clapped, winking saucily at him.

Alec just shook his head. "I blame myself."

"Don't be like that!" Magnus slid his hands on his neck, propping himself up. "Lets play a game."

Alec blinked. How could a single human being talk so goddamn fast? "Uh, okay?"

"Don't apologize. I'm sure you aren't that terrible." Magnus waved him off. "I can kiss you, to help you with your answer." He winked. "How can you resist such a tempting offer?"

Alec gave a strangled laugh. "Are you sure?"

Magnus gave him a serious look. "I think you know the answer to that, Alexander."

Alec bit his lip. "So, I guess..."

He felt warm, soft lips pressing against his gently, cutting him off.

Alec felt Magnus's hand slide behind his head, cradling his neck and stroking at the skin there. Alec found himself intertwining his arms behind the other boy's head, pressing himself more roughly against him, deepening the kiss.

Oh, yeah. Definitely boys.

Clary

"Ow!" Jordan scowled and rubbed at the back of his head, where Clary had just smacked him. "What the hell was that for?"

"For scaring the crap out of me." Clary crossed her arms, glaring at him. "Do you know how worried I've been?"

"I know," Jace piped up from where he was leaning casually against the doorframe. "Because you wouldn't shut up about it on the way here."

Clary made a growling noise at him, but he just laughed. "You sound like a kitten," he said. "Cute."

Jordan snorted. "Cute, dude?" He glanced at Clary. "Babe, maybe you should hand him back his balls."

Jace took a step forward. "Bro, you cannot be talking." He crossed his arms. "Maia's got you whipped."

Jordan got a dreamy look on his face, and sighed. "Yeah. She does."

Clary elbowed Jace as soon as he opened his mouth. "He's happy. Ruin it, and I won't kiss you for a week."

Jace's eyes widened. "No, no." He turned back to Jordan. "I'm happy for you, dude. Except now I have to be nice to you. Because Clary's your friend..."

"So this means you'll be nice to Simon?" Clary asked.

"Hell no!"

Jordan snickered. "It's cool, man. We can just bond over how controlling our women are."

Clary slapped him.

"And gorgeous," Jace muttered in her ear, picking her up and quickly moving her away from Jordan. They were trying to get him out of the hospital. Not make him stay longer. "And incredibly sweet and sexy. Don't hurt him."

"Whatever." Clary relaxed in his arms.

"When am I getting outta here?" Jordan demanded, shifting a little in the bed as he grumped down at the tubes stuck in his arm. "I feel bloated."

Jace sneered. "You look bloated."

Maia glanced up from the Spin magazine she'd spent the last ten minutes reading, blatanly ignoring her boyfriend and Jace's bantering. "You two are so childish."

Clary gave Maia a brief smile, pushing aside her resentment towards the cury girl. She was happy for Jordan, happy that he got his girlfriend-who grounded him-back. But she still kinda blamed her for Jordan's breakdown.

Jace's expression froze for a second, and Clary blushed, feeling the stunned gazes of Maia and Jordan on them.

Then he grinned, and kissed her, harder than he'd ever done before. In front of Jordan and Maia.

"Dude." Clary thought she heard Jordan's voice, but her senses were so full of Jace's mouth, his smell, his skin, that she wasn't sure. "Get a room."

Jace gave her lower-lip a bite before pulling slightly away, nose against hers. "Definitely," he panted, not looking away from Clary. "You and Maia get out, and we get the bed as a bonus."

Clary shook her head. "You can't kick him out of this room, Jace," she pointed out. "We're in a hospital."

Jace winked. "Don't think I haven't thought about you in a nurse's outfit-"

"Alright." Maia threw her hands up. "I think it's safe to say you two made up after years of sexual tension. Now leave if you can't control your horomones." She gave Jace a look. "You might need to separate."

Jace shook his head, pulling Clary closer to him. "I'll be good."

Clary rolled her eyes. "Liar."

Maia sighed. "So, your parents know about your...er, relationship?"

Clary shook her head. "They don't care."

Jace rubbed her arms. "And if they can't accept it, we'll just stay with Lucian."

Maia raised her eyebrows. "And the gossiping?"

Clary dropped her head on Jace's chest, and groaned. Damn, she hadn't thought about that.

"I'll deal with them," Jace said. "I have too much dirt on the football team and cheerleading squead for them to even try."

Maia shrugged. "What the hell, then. Go for it."

Epilogue

"What the hell's with this place?" Jace made a disgusted face at the heart-shaped balloons and streamers that covered the auditorium, and fidgeted irratibly in his tuxedo. "It looks like Isabelle's bedroom when she was eight."

"That might be because she helped decorate." Clary squeezed at his arm, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "One dance, and then we leave."

"Yeah, that's real nasty." Jace came up from behind her. "That crap-no pun intended-is beginning to kick in." He jerked his chin at the group of students running towards the bathrooms. "Verlac looks ready to shit himself."

Sebastian did look...awkward.

Jordan snickered. "Magnus is going to be pissed that you did that without him."

Clary shook her head. "Where is Magnus? He said he got Alec to come here..." She trailed off, noticing the couple making out heavily in one of the corners, Alec, surprisingly, looked like he was being more aggressive about it than Magnus, who looked like he was enjoying himself. Nice to see that he's got him to come out of his shell. And to his parents. Maryse and Robert, though hesitant when Magnus moved in, hadn't exactly cared; Just relieved that he wouldn't be getting any girl knocked up anytime soon.

"Can we go, yet?"Jace whined, and she looked away before she could see his pout. He knew she couldn't resist his puppy-dog look.

"One dance. You promised."

"Fine." He took her hand, and led her to the dance floor. "But if you expect me to go to prom..." She kissed his sleeved shoulder. "We'll go to the Pandemonium Club for prom," she told him. "Or stay in." She knew the real reason he hated dances-especially the school ones-was because she was constantly harassed by their classmates for dating her stepbrother. Sometimes she thought the insults aimed at her angered him more than the ones thrown at him.

"Okay." She felt his muscles, which had been tense up, relax beneath her fingers.

He lifted her up, so that her legs were wrapped around his waist, and her head was tucked in the crook of his neck. They got weird looks, but hey; She was so short it made dancing difficult.

Jace swayed gently, shooting death glares at the snickering boys. He'd deal with them another day. Asshats.

"Should we leave, now?"

He nodded, but didn't put her down. Instead, he carried her through the gym, and all the way home, ignoring the glamorous limo Isabelle had ordered for all of them to go in.

"You don't have to carry me, you know. I can walk."

Jace kissed her. "I want to. Brings back memories."

Clary grinned, and rubbed her face into his chest. "Love you."

"I love you, too."

End

I'm sorry if that was a bit rushed. But you got a HEA. Which is kinda hard to do, considering how much angst I love to write.

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